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NANOSTRUCTURED ALUMINA WAVEGUIDES FOR DUAL-OUTPUT BIOSENSING: STRESS INDUCED FABRICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION (NanoStrBioSens)
Start date: Feb 1, 2011, End date: Jan 31, 2015 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Most commercially available optical biosensors only measure changes in the refractive index of a solution very near the sensor surface. Information given by this approach is limited to the amount of analyte molecules linked into receptors on the sensor surface. In some cases, understanding complex bio-events is constrained when available data is based solely on refractive-index-change measurements via characteristics of the reflected light (intensity, polarization or phase). Scattering measurements need to be accompanied along with reflection measurements in order to determine the organization of molecules on a surface as well. This proposal calls for the development of nanostructured waveguides made of a thin layer of alumina (Al2O3) which would produce and control dual sensor outputs, specifically, total internal reflection (TIR) and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signals. Single-mode waveguides with structured surface will present a significant advantage over current optical biosensors by providing better information about both the binding and organization of protein molecules via polarization maintained reflection and scattering. After atomic layer deposition of single-mode waveguide alumina film, its surface modification will be done by a mechanics driven fabrication method called thermal stress induced hillock formation. The main objective of this proposal is to fabricate and characterize a nanostructured alumina waveguide that will provide the following crucial advantages over the optical biosensor approach: 1) The possibility for dual-output with fine tuning, 2) a more complete understanding about the organization of molecules, 3) an unprecedented sensitivity for a label-free optical sensor, which will analyze information down to sub pmol/cm2 because of its enhanced electromagnetic (EM) field, and 4) the ability to control the molecular binding characteristics of the surface.
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